DETECTION AND ISOLATION OF CANCER CELLS FROM BODY FLUIDS BASED ON A GLYCOSYLATION PATTERN AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF

摘要

The present invention refers to the use of antibodies against sialyl-Tn antigen (STn) or other agents with affinity for STn in a composition for coating Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs) isolation devices. The present invention further refers to a functionalized surface or article comprising the composition with a STn capturing agent. Another aspect of this invention further refers to a method to produce the article or surface with a coating comprising the said composition and a method to detach the cells bound to this surface employing the use of glycoside hydrolase enzymes such as α- neuraminidase. The composition, surface and methods may be advantageously applied to coating devices to capture CTCs in blood or other body fluids, to improve their efficiency and specificity in isolating CTCs and to improve their accuracy in assessing the risk of metastization, prognostication, monitoring of disease progression, detection of residual disease and evaluation of response to treatment. Thus, the present invention falls within the technical field of medicine, pharmaceutics and biochemistry.